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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and Chris discuss a password related to the Louvre robbery, Apple and Google nearing an Ai deal, Tinder’s decline in subscribers, and more.
“News Pick of the Week” with Ralph Bond
Diagnosing problems with the lower portion of a patient’s spinal column is a real challenge for doctors. This week our science and technology news reporter, Bond, Ralph Bond, tells us there’s a new AI-based computer modeling technology that delivers a much better and faster way to diagnose lower back pain problems.
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Wanda in Clearwater, Florida asked: “What do you think is the best security system for homes? I know there is a lot out there. I was just wondering what you guys think is the best system, especially if you have a lot of activity in your home with kids and animals and a lot of deliveries. Thank you.”
Wanda, as its often the case with these questions the best option will depend on your budget and your needs.
For example, ADT is very highly reviewed, theyve been around for a million years and theyve more than caught up to modern times and have all of the regular features youd expect from modern security systems (cameras that can be viewed remotely, smart doorbells, etc).
However, if youre looking for a security system that may get new features, you may be better off looking at something more tech-centric like a Ring system. Theyre good for deliveries and know how to detect animals and kids, and they are generally less expensive than options like ADT and Vivint, but unlike with those two, youre probably looking at doing your own installation.
Dont let that scare you too much, self-installed options like Ring and SimplySafe are largely wireless, so the installation is little more than screwing or gluing things to walls.
As youre choosing the security system, keep in mind that there are privacy implications, and that may be an even bigger factor for you since you mentioned children.
For example, Ring has very famously shared vast amounts of recordings with law enforcement. You may think well, its for law enforcement purposes but the catch is that they never explicitly asked for permission to share the recordings with anyone at all, they assigned themselves that right deep in the terms of service.
That means that they could also choose to sell your doorbell video to BestBuy so they can see if the delivery people coming to your door are delivering a TV, or if theyre wearing a Walmart uniform, or to an ad agency to see how old the members of your household are, or how many there are, or the price range of the cars parked in the driveway. And thats just the outside of the house.
If youre concerned about things like that, dont skip the terms of service or use a service that is fully offline.
Services like ADT, SimplySafe, and Ring all work with home automation systems, so you should be able to automate some actions if that appeals to you (for example, turn on the alarm if your phone is more than a certain radius away from the house), but again that will likely take some setup on your end with most vendors.
There really isnt a clear best option, but there may be a best one of your needs that aligns more closely with your budget, privacy concerns, and installation and technology needs. If you could tell us more about those aspects, wed be happy to give you more detailed recommendations with more of an expected budget or things to look out for.
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